Schneller Knochelmann Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

Jennifer L.

I hired Schneller and Knochenmann to troubleshoot an AC unit that kept losing it's charge. They were unable to find a leak in the system and ultimately, I ended up buying a new unit from them. After spending $1000s, the unit still lost its charge. It was determined that the leak most likely was within the walls and the best thing to do was to bypass the system with new tubing. Tired of going year after year with no AC in the summer, I agreed to the service. Since then, Pete Knockelmann has completely ignored me. I have emailed several times to set up the service and I either get no response or ""oh we'll get to you next week"". He even said he wouldn't do the work until my neighbor's work was done. Well, that was months ago and still nothing from Pete. I even asked him if he was still interested in the job which he said yes. After months of no responses I called his office and was told he was in a meeting and he would get back to me. That was 2 months ago. I don't know what is going on with this company. It used to be so good and had great reviews. This behavior is nothing short of a complete lack of professionalism. Pete promised me he would make it right. He also acknowledged that I had spent a lot of money with his company to fix this problem. I just simply don't understand.

Vince H.

My mother's heat pump failed in early 2020 while she was in the hospital. I had SN install a new heat pump system. Initially, everything worked great, and used less energy. The first semi-annual service was great. Things went downhill from there. The second semi-annual svc was lacking in professionalism, with the tech even talking negatively about Kris. The next day, I got a call from my mom stating that the AC wasn't working. The Tech forgot to flip the outside breaker back to the on position. Called SN, and basically got an ""oh well"" response. 3rd semi-annual service was last week. Everything seemed fine, until today. No heat is coming out. I can see the system running on nest app, but not heating. I make another trip over to discover that the outside unit is icing up. What's the purpose of the semi-annual service if the unit is going to stop working less that 1 week afterwards?

Melody J.

Like all the other larger heating and plumbing, they don't know how to repair only how to upsell on a replacement. First question asked when we called was ""how old is the unit?"" Of course, then they can make the service call, parts and labor so expensive, your only option is to replace it at thousands o dollars. Thank goodness some ""good guys"" still exist. We got it repaired at substantially less than Knochelmann's quote. Never again. They got us for the service call but they did not get a new customer.

Chuck C.

I recommend this company to anyone. My hot water heater stopped working and I called several places who placed me on a wait list. Clay, the plumbing manager @ Schneller & Knochelmann discussed all my options in detail and resolved all of the problems that very day. Prices were very competitive but the professionalism and experience of Clay and the technicians blew away all of the other companies. They are now servicing my AC and furnace as well.

Ben B.

Did a quick job of removing my garbage disposal but wanted to charge $622 to put in a new one. Garbage disposal is around ~$150, average one hour of service should be ~$150. Company is charging way to much.

Sandi A.

These guys are awesome. John Snowden, the installers and Adam persevered when we had a issue with our zoning system . They worked on our problem until it was solved. They replaced our furnace & AC and we have great., even cooling and heating after 14 years of extreme cold or hot spots in our house. I can't say enough about how nice, genuine and professional they are to work with and how hard they've work to make things right for us. We highly recommend them.

Kevin W.

I never take the time to write negative posts, although in my experience, that'd be over half the reviews I would give.
We bid out our new HVAC job to 4 companies and chose Schneller Knochelmann (SK) because of their tremendous testimonials and some family history with using the brand.
Boy was that a mistake.

April 2018, we purchased a home and had SK come out to estimate the project which included measuring and sizing the systems.

May 2018, two systems installed (attic and crawl space), but weren't currently being used as the house was being completely renovated.

June 2018, we turn the systems on and they won't hold a cool temp or expel the humidity.
SK came out and found they had jammed an extra filter in the crawl space furnace even though the return filter was now in the house.
They let the units outside which froze up dethaw and got them back running... Good enough.

August 2018 Installed Solid Hardwood floors in the house. Huge investment. Excess humidity in the house, condensation on the windows, averaged 70-80% humidity throughout the home. Our new flooring cupped, then buckled blowing off baseboards and pushing through drywall while ruining the floors. Systems adjusted by SK 2x over the course of a week after being notified about this.

September 2018 SK comes back and remeasures and admits to oversizing BOTH systems in the house, so they were cooling the house, but not removing humidity. Systems replaced and adjusted several times.
Systems STILL won't reduce the humidity to a healthy level (TWO SYSTEMS) so a crawl space dehumidifier is recommended. For 3k. But not in April - August, just now in September. Crawl space is encapsulated and dehumidifier is added.
SK's insurance cuts check to replace flooring (we are now displaced an additional 6 weeks from moving in).

October 2018 Downstairs is close to holding humidity, upstairs is not. SK recommends a dehumidifier for UPSTAIRS now in addition to the one in the crawl space. For 3k.
House finally holding proper humidity level.
Nest thermostats installed by SK keep adjusting on their own, without any schedules, calendar or learning on. They were alerted, never followed up. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Nest and had to reset both units including checking the wires behind them for shorts (because yeah, that should be something the homeowner should have to do). The App still doesn't properly work with the units. I'll be asking for new ones next.

November 2018 Our contractor notices a HUGE puddle of water in the crawl space (now encapsulated) under the furnace. SK comes out and says ""they forgot to hook up a coupling to the drain line"". They fix it, then leave. And leave the mess of all the water that leaked out (8 beach towels worth of sopping up). And although this last part isn't the biggest deal, its certainly the last straw.

Hope you have a 4.8 star experience if you choose to go with SK, sadly our experience was anything but...

Greg P.

My issue with this company goes back a few months when my wife and I decided to get new countertops for our kitchen and add a new drop-in sink and garbage disposal. She called Schneller to hook up the new sink, garbage disposal and the existing dishwasher. She was told over the phone, the service call would be cost about $80 or so (she can't remember the exact amount but it was under $90). She understood this wasn't going to be the final bill and sort of had another price range in mind for the work that needed to be done. The plumber comes out and gives my wife a quote of $520 for doing this work. My wife is very sweet and ignorant when it comes to hiring contractors and labor, but understandingly she's not wiling to wait another 3 to 4 days without being able to use her kitchen, so she nervously said yes. The dude spent less than an hour hooking up the sink, disposal and dishwasher.

I'm in a line of work where we hire contractors all day long and know the cost of doing this work. I also hire attorneys out of New York City who charge me cheaper rates than $520/hour. My wife called me at work, and I about lost my mind over this cost. I called Schneller and left a message on Facebook. While the woman taking my call and responding to my FB messages (and probably will to this message) was very nice and professional, she had no authority to reduce the bill. The plumber's manager got involved and wouldn't budge at reducing their cost less than $425 - even though he confirmed via GPS tracking that the plumber was at my residence for under an hour. What do you do? I paid them just to end the saga and not have a lien placed on my house.

But months later, I'm still stewing over this matter, and I tell most people I know never to use them unless you want to be charged $520/hr and later have them back off $100 because they felt bad about such a BS rate. To me, it's not about the money, it's about integrity, honesty and what you stand for. They weren't there to serve my needs for a fair price, but to take advantage. I don't want Schnellers to contact me and try to make it right. It doesn't matter anymore. If I have to call and remind you that you took $520 of our money to work less than one hour, and you're willing to take off $100, that shows me you have no integrity, and you're willing to take advantage of people, especially sweet, ignorant people. See...months later I'm still mad about the situation and have to calm down now. Peace!

Dana H.

UPDATE: Jeremy from Schneller spoke with me today on the phone the issue. After such a bad experience, not only did Jeremy make it right, but he honored my request to meet with my father on the issue on site! He spoke personally with my father at length, and was very accommodating and apologetic with my father. He refunded the over charge of a service fee erroneously charged.
The restoration in the integrity of this company has been refreshing as well as a relief in calming a situation that would have been a bad memory to us.
Now I can say that Schneller holds weight in the integrity a good company should have.
Thank you again Jeremy, my father is an important part of our lives.

Sincerely,
D.Haan

Nicole H.

My furnace went out today. The tech was so nice and professional. He explained the problem to me so that I was able to understand. He offered me the maintenance service and explained the benefits but was in no way pushy or trying to make a sale. I inquired about having a check done to the furnace and air before spring as I am putting my house up for sale and he explained that process as well. I would highly recommend this company to anyone.